Abstract

Artifacts play an important role as triggers for personal memory. They
help in the recollection of past experience and in reminiscing about people,
places, and times gone by. Of particular interest to us is one type
of artifact, the heirloom, which may also have rich connections with
memory, but often through the lens of the life of a deceased member
of a family, or a friend. Issues of personal memory and heirlooms are
complex, diverse, and subtle. In this article we describe a design case
study investigating the role technology will play as part of the process of
inheritance. We describe the process of translating fieldwork related to
artifacts and heirlooms into a design space from which a broad set of
themes, concepts and prototypes emerged. We describe the development
of this space, its thematic arrangement, and finally a number of resultant
artifact designs.